


Team Fortress 2 One shots!

by Taliolic



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: All The Ships, Alternate Universe, Don't Like Don't Read, Friendship/Love, M/M, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Ravings of a mad man, Romance, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2018-12-04 07:55:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11550852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taliolic/pseuds/Taliolic
Summary: Just a one shots I wrote for practise/Fun, Enjoy! These are Canon Character X Canon Character, do feel free to request a ship





	1. The Difference (Engineer x Demo)

**Author's Note:**

> This was based off a Prompt I found and thought was awesome!

((Engie- Dell Conagher  
Demo- Tavish Finnegan DeGroot  
This was based off a prompt))

Eyes turn from crimson to Blue, azure to yellow, passion to trust, admiration to deceit. For one specific person, his eyes remained only one colour. To some he was a freak of nature, a man whose eyes never changed colour? Dell was an outsider, mistrusted, and mistreated for his mutation. His eyes were a solid electric blue, even though the colour they were represented truth as well as loyalty no one seemed to want to be near him.  
Honestly Dell didn’t put too much thought into this, though what worried him was how hard it was to actually get a job in his profession. Somehow, between the prejudice and injustice he was shown, he landed a job as an engineer which he had always wanted to be. Dell had a natural ability to solve problems and, when people stopped being stubborn, he could enlighten them with information. Sadly, at his current project someone wasn’t listening due to their mistrust in the single coloured freak.

“Sir, give me another few days to fix the problem before you go off half-cocked blowin’ up buildings!” Dell pleaded with his southern drawl as a tall man in a gray suit scoffed at him and continued walking toward the front door of the building.  
“How about no, Conagher. I gave you five days to figure out the problem and solve it and all I got from trusting you is failure.” He said to the engineer who paused his walking to give the man a glare that was hidden behind goggles and a hardhat. Five days to fix something that should take a few damn weeks! He quickly caught up with the man and ran to stand in his way. The man’s eyes turned from Lavender to maroon which signified his distaste for the situation.  
“With all due respect, you can go to anyone else in this damn city and have them say the same thing, five days is not enough to fix your problem and offin’ the building ain’t gonna solve much in a long run. It can be salvaged but it is gonna take two weeks at minimum.” He told the man simply.

It was around the point where he was about to be fired that someone else decided to enter the conversation.  
“I’d have to agree with the wee man.” A voice said, a Scottish accent heavy in their voice. Dell turned his head to see someone that was part of the demolition group, he had seen the other upstairs planning the demolition of the building along with the rest of the group.

The man seemed to relax, seeing as his eyes turned from maroon back to lavender. “Ah, Mr. DeGroot.” He said as Dell remained silent. “Surprised you would agree with Mr. Conagher, may I incline as to why?” Dell’s head may have been looking up to the other but his eyes were looking downward as he thought about the problem at hand.  
“Saw the damage myself, pretty bad for just five days’ work.” Dell’s eyes finally rose to see the other’s whose eyes were a pale blue, they were truthful. He saw the business man thinking before sighing and turning back to Dell.  
“You get your wish Conagher, two weeks. To make sure that you do what you are told, I want DeGroot to oversee, shouldn’t be too difficult.” With that the man continued off, leaving the two within the building. Both men stood there for a moment before DeGroot started laughing, gaining Dell’s attention. 

“Somethin’ funny, son?” he asked feeling a bit like a child seeing as he was not trusted to do his job, now he had to walk around with a babysitter looming over him.  
“Didn’t see that coming was all.” A friendly hand was placed on Dell’s shoulder as he finished laughing “We better get to it.” Without a fuss Dell started off toward where the problem was located, his new friend following close in suit.  
Silence filled the space between the two as Dell set to work, grabbing a tool from his belt and starting down the stairs to the basement. “By the way, the name is Tavish.” He heard the man say as he followed him. Dell didn’t flinch when he started to walk in water, it nearly reaching his knees before stopping. Dell paused and turned to face the man who was still on the step up from where the water reached.  
He leaned up and extended his ungloved hand. “Dell.” He said, the other taking his hand and firmly shaking it before Dell turned back around. Not a moment after that did he hear splashing behind him and hissing “you know you could just stay up there.” Dell told Tavish as he turned around the corner to find the main water valve for the building. 

“Damn, this water is fuckin’ cold.” He could hear, pausing to wait for the Scotsman to catch up. “How the hell are you not shiverin’?” To that Dell chuckled, amused. He had been in this water a few times before pin pointing where the problem was, by now he was just used to it. Dell didn’t answer as he looked around for his wrench that he had sat on a shelf, now missing. He bent over, feeling around the flooded for near one of the giant pipes for his lost item until he found it, pulling it from the water with a sigh, wonder how it managed to drift four feet from the shelves. 

He shook the thought as he used his wrench to shut the sluice gate and cut off the water for the time being while he fixed the many problems throughout the building. It was after a minute of silence that Dell heard Tavish speak again “Mr. stick-up-his-arse said you were an engineer, yes?” Dell nodded as an answer. “What is an engineer doin’ fixing broken pipes?” There it was, the question of why he was doing something like this when his job was supposed to be so much better.  
“Well, I designed the piping of the building to be more energy efficient and got blamed when it was laid down wrong. So now I gotta come in and fix it.” More silence filled the void before he heard splashing as Tavish walked toward the stairs and out of the water. Dell continued to work, having to take out piping and replace it. A good few hours passed before he heard anything besides the echoing of his own movements. 

“Dell.” He heard his name and paused, it was obviously Tavish speaking. He gave him a loud hum as a response to tell him that he was listening but when Tavish didn’t speak he realised that the other man wanted him to come to the stairs. Pulling himself away from his work he waded through the water until he got to the stairs. He saw Tavish standing above the water with a grocery bag in tow.  
“You got my attention, somethin’ you need?” he asked before seeing Tavish pull a bottle of alcohol from the grocery bag.

“You realize that we all got off work an hour ago? I was expecting you to be outside preparing to go home or long gone, but my mates tell me that you never left the building.” Tavish said catching Dell off guard, he had no idea what time it was because he had removed his watch for safe keeping. As he looked up to make eye contact with the man standing above him on the stairs, he noticed the other’s eyes, glinting in the light reflecting off the water, were a gray colour. He was concerned? They had only met so long ago and this man’s eyes were telling him that he felt concerned. Dell found himself unable to answer as Tavish chuckled “Suppose the boss was right, I do have to watch over you.” The Scotsman joked, gesturing for Dell to follow which he did, packing up his tool box and carrying it with him back to where they came.

It was only when they got outside that Tavish sat on a low stone wall that separated the sidewalk from the grass. For a minute Dell was confused as to why he stopped there and was about to leave if it wasn’t for Tavish handing him a bottle of alcohol. In the end, he set his tool box down and took the bottle of beer, sitting alongside him on the wall. He slid off his hard hat but kept his goggles in place “Why are your eyes gray?” Dell finally asked looking toward Tavish who was going at it with his own bottle of alcohol.  
Tavish scoffed as if it should be common knowledge “The people I work with don’t usually work an hour after their shift is over. Suppose I am wondering why you don’t seem to care. Don’t you got any family or friends to be with now? ” now it was Dell’s turn to scoff. He shook his head slightly.

“No.” he said simply, taking a swig from the beer bottle. He didn’t want to take off his goggles, though a part of him felt like he was lying to Tavish while he still wore them. Should his genetic difference actually affect anything?  
“Well, let’s just say you made a friend today.”  
“We met two hours ago.”  
“So? Drink, maybe it will lighten you up.”

Dell smiled, shaking his head as he removed his goggles and placed them on his forehead. Before he could take another drink, he heard a laugh “Your eyes betray you.” He heard but was slightly confused, maybe it was because he forgot his eye colour represented loyalty. For a moment, he looked at Tavish before his eyes widened and he looked away nervously.  
“No, it doesn’t.” he muttered not sure how to phrase his explanation.  
“Then-“  
“My eyes don’t change colour.” He blatantly said outright, why would he even try to explain it in complicated terms. There it was plain and simple. His eyes didn’t change colour. Silence once again was between them before he heard something completely unexpected.

“Now that is unique.” He muttered taking a large gulp from his bottle before he pulled Dell over with an arm around his shoulder “Never met anyone like that.” Dell could see Tavish nodding, possibly observing his eyes or perhaps his face, it was very unclear as to what he was doing. Perhaps he was already intoxicated. “I like that, special. Perfect.” He continued to nod as he shifted himself to lay down on the stone wall, looking up at the darkening sky, finishing off his bottle and grabbing another from the bag. Never in Dell’s life had someone said something like that to him, he continued to stare at Tavish as the man blankly stared at the sky, unalarmed by the genetic difference. Dell slowly turned his head to stare at his mostly empty bottle of alcohol before he sighed, a smile now forming on his face as he finished off the beer. Next time he would have to buy them drinks.


	2. Of Valour and Passion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just something I was dreaming of and decided to write it out. I am not good at naming things XD

(Soldier: Ryan Bennett  
Engineer: Dell Conagher  
Pyro: you think he got a name?  
Medic: Josef Humboldt  
Be warned that there is violence in this and a blood warning.)

“Get the hell up Soldier!” Ryan yelled at the top of his voice, even then the noise of explosions were draining him out. The other person was covered in dirt and sweat much like himself. Laying against a wall of sand bags was the Engineer, Dell, a bullet wound to the right side of his abdomen keeping him stationary and bleeding out while covered in dirt. Dell had previously been accepting his fate before Ryan had come across him, his eyes opening when he heard the soldier speak.  
“Ry-“  
“No time for pleasantries, Maggot!”, he yelled as he tried to pull Dell up, searing pain coursing his body as he muffed a string of curses alongside a pained groan. Ryan paused, he had not noticed the wound before, the blood soaking the brown fabric of Dell’s overalls. Dell’s helmet clunk to the ground as his head lurched forward, hand gripping his midsection in a sad attempt to get the pain to ease.  
“God damn it, Soldier.” He managed to mutter out, though his voice went unnoticed due to the noise the surrounded them. Ryan, from under his helmet, furrowed his eyebrows as Dell used one hand to pry Ryan’s off his shoulder. In the distance the explosions grew closer, Dell knew he would only slow Ryan down and shook his head at Ryan’s second attempt at getting him up. “You gotta get yourself the hell outta here, go... now.” Dell said as he finally grabbed the hand that Ryan was about to use to pull him up.

He pulled the hand closer for a moment and, in this short sentimental moment, he quickly ripped off his dog tags and slapped them into Ryan’s hand before pushing it away from him. “Go.” Dell said gravely, his hand going to grip the wound in his side as he settled back down against the sand bags to await his slow demise.  
Ryan opened his hand, looking at the tags and then to Dell. He gripped them tight before leaning down to be near Dell, an unamused look on his face, despite not seeing his eyes. “Listen here, Maggot! I don’t leave my men behind!”, he yelled as he grabbed Dell’s arm, his other and going between Dell’s legs as he heaved Dell onto his shoulders in a wounded soldier carry.

Dell let out another pained yell as Ryan did that and Ryan seemed to pause a moment for Dell to adjust before he set off at a run, yelling for Medic as he did so. Dell felt pain shoot through him with every bump and move Ryan made but managed to breathe through it, the hand that wasn’t gripped by Ryan’s gripped at Ryan’s clothing. Ryan’s free hand gripped a pistol for protection rather than his usual rocket launcher which he seemed to have left behind for some reason. Dell closed his eyes tightly, focusing on anything but the pain, that was until Ryan lurched, shooting his hand gun several times. When Dell opened his eyes, a spy was dead on the ground to the left. Dell’s eyes moved from the spy to Ryan who kept running, did he get stabbed? Dell tried his best to check but when he couldn’t he tried to get Ryan’s attention. “Soldier, are you alright?” he asked, getting nothing in return “Ryan!” Dell ordered.  
“No knife wound is going to stop me!” he yelled as Dell tugged at Ryan’s shirt weakly, fatigue from blood loss being the cause of his strength loss.

“Soldier, stop.” Dell said but Ryan kept going at his running pace “Ryan,” a shot of pain ran through him when he yelled “You’re gonna to kill yourself!” He finished, taking a few heavy breaths to recover from his yelling. Instead of answering him, Ryan yelled for Medic. Dell leaned his head against Ryan’s shoulder, he felt dizzy and sick but his life wasn’t the only on the line at the moment. He took a deep breath, his hand gripped at clothing again with newfound strength but let go when Ryan flinched. His hand retracted, blood coating his gloveless hand. Soldier’s wound seemed to be worse than his own. Dell turned his head when he heard voices behind them, he could see the enemy approaching fast. This was going to be the end.

A shaky hand pulled his goggles off, tossing them as blue eyes stared at what little of Ryan’s face he could see. Though despite seeing so little of his face he could see under the helmet. Short, military cut light brown hair was being flattened by the helmet while ice cold blue eyes stared straight ahead with determination. It was only when Dell’s head turned, catching a red gleam in his eye before he made a quick decision and, despite the pain, ripped his foot from Ryan’s grip, pushing himself from the other and pulling him down as well. A loud gunshot sounded, hitting the ground that had been in front of Ryan as he tried to recover but Dell’s hand reached for soldier who was breathing heavily himself with gritted teeth as he looked to the engineer. He shook his head, gritting his own teeth as he pushed himself up despite the dizziness that he felt. Dell swayed, Ryan coming forward to try and steady him despite his own swaying but failing as he fell to his elbow, his helmet now clunking to the ground to reveal what had been hidden nearly all the time.

Dell looked back up to see the incoming enemy before looking back down and lowered himself to the ground, his arm hooking around Ryan’s neck and pulling him into a hug “You did good, Ryan.” He told him, the other starting to lose his colour quicker than he was. It wasn’t too long before he felt too weak to even hold himself up and he collapsed, Ryan following shortly after, retaining the hug as they both bled out on the mostly dried earth. Unlike Soldier, Dell didn’t want to watch the incoming doom, rather he looked at the man who tried to save him and was going to get himself killed protecting him.

He had a nice trail of blood falling down his chin and dripping into the dirt, the crimson liquid mixing with clumps of soil. He could see Ryan’s eyes struggling to stay open before they drifted to him as his eye lids shut, his head now in the dirt as Dell slowly joined him in unconsciousness. Dell’s fingertips felt wet as they rested on his stomach, clothing crimson with blood. As his eyes drifted closed he could hear the seemingly distant sound of fighting continuing without them. The smell of gunpowder filled his nose and the soft sound of a name being called, though he could no longer register the words being said. Unconsciousness took over Dell and the next time he opened his eyes, his heart stuttered with fear. He sprung to life only to feel pain “Definitely not dead.” He muttered, laying back down and taking deep breaths as he observed the room. He could tell he was in a medical facility but what worried him was what base- wait. Dell felt panic as he noticed that Ryan was nowhere to be seen.

It was during his panic that the door opened, entering the room he spotted familiar faces and relaxed. He was in his own base. Entering was a familiar gas mask alongside the Medic they needed on the field. “Ah, Engineer, you are awake.” Josef said as he approached, Pyro hurrying to Dell’s side and giving him a hug as Josef walked to a cupboard and laid down a plain white shirt and some sweatpants on the bed.  
He chuckled, a very short-lived chuckle due to pain, and looked to Josef. “Sold- “  
“Is fine. He was in bad condition but I managed to fix his internal bleeding and he survived. As for you, you are lucky the bullet did not puncture anything and went straight through or you could have died out on the battlefield.” He finished and Dell nodded, getting help with sitting up by his good buddy Pyro.

“Can I see him?” Dell asked getting a nod.  
“Just don’t get your hopes up, he may not ever wake up.” Dell stared at the doctor for a minute, registering what the other was saying. Was he in comatose or was it unclear at this moment? Dell tried to push that from his mind which now brought up the question of how long had he been sleeping.

“How long have I been out?” he asked softly, the doctor writing down some notes before looking back up at him.  
“A few days.” He muttered “I would suggest taking it slow.” With that Dell nearly ignored Josef and stood up, Pyro helping him up. He quickly got dressed and started out the room alongside the medic and pyro who escorted him to Ryan’s room and left after checking up on him.  
Silence consumed the room once the door closed, Dell sitting down in the chair next to the bed. 

He took a deep breath, his hand coming up to brush the gauze that covered his wound before looking to Ryan and leaning forward, his elbows resting on the bed as he gently grabbed the soldier’s hand into his own. This man almost died trying to protect him, damn he was grateful that they both survived so he could give him proper thanks.  
He must have sat in there for hours because Dell awoke to feeling a hand on his head. At first, he didn’t register what was going on and he continued to rest his head on the bed, when it finally did register his eyes darted open and he rose his head to look toward Ryan, who was caught off guard by how quickly the engineer had responded.

Ryan’s hand jerked away, his mouth opening and closing trying to find words but failing for once in his life. Dell let out a breath, standing and giving him a hug. For once the soldier had his guard down, no one had really done that before. He almost wanted to hide behind his helmet but it was nowhere to be seen. “The doc said there was a chance you wouldn’t wake up.” Dell muttered pulling away to sit back down.  
Ryan scoffed “No wound can keep me from the front lines!” he gave a look of determination before his eyes fell to Dell who held an almost guilty look as he rubbed his neck and let his head droop.

“You damn near got yourself killed like a god damned fool out there.” His voice was serious, forcing Ryan to be serious.  
“I told you, I leave no man behind. No man deserves to die alone.” He stated stubbornly before Dell glared at him.  
“It was my damn mistake that lead me into that situation, you had nothin' to do with it!” he yelled before pinching the bridge of his nose, Ryan had shrunk back into his bed a little at Dell’s angry outburst, just concern in disguise.

“I don’t want to watch my friends die around me, don’t wanna be the last man standin'.” He muttered placing his head into his hands, he honestly didn’t mean to let the last part slip but it did. He heard shifting, glancing up to see Ryan shifted closer to the side of the bed and threw his legs over the edge, his other hand clamped tightly for a reason Dell could not figure out. Dell was about to say something had Ryan not pulled him up, forcing him into a hug that was both gentle and firm.  
“What on earth makes you think we are going anywhere?”, he asked with a stubborn huff, “I sure as hell am not going anywhere.” A rare soft moment came into the clear, probably wouldn’t get another with soldier so Dell relished in the moment that only he was witness to. His arms, currently hugged around Ryan in a hug, shifted as both hands moved to his shoulders. Ryan looked up to the standing engineer who had been about to do something but decided against it and covered his embarrassment with a smile.

“That’s good, don’t know what I would’ve done without ya.” Dell said as he tried to turn to sit back down, though it was difficult seeing as Ryan had refused to let go just yet. Instead he closed his eyes, his face turning red as he pulled him closer, refusing to make eye contact. “Uh, soldier-“ Dell muttered stopping suddenly when he recognised the look on his face.  
It was strange to see that look without his helmet, usually he only saw the frown on his lips. Before now he thought it was a sign of him being upset but his eyebrows were knitted together, eyes downcast, and face flushed with heat, he didn’t know what feeling it was. “Ryan.” Dell muttered as the man before him leaned his head against his chest, his face now looking down to the floor. Dell could tell something was off with the man, perhaps brought about with the fact he almost died. He placed his hands on the other’s shoulders and pushed him away enough to slip his hands under the other’s face and raise it to look at him. For a moment, their eyes made contact before looking to the side “Hey, what’s wrong?” Dell asked, now worried about how out of character Ryan was acting, maybe he got clocked somewhere along the way.

Ryan seemed to get frustrated as he struggled to stand up, Dell helping him. He muttered a few things “Boy, you’re gonna have to speak up.” Dell told him before he felt a hand brushing against his clothing, he glanced only to feel it come into contact with his neck. Ryan brought his tightly clamped hand up and opened it, dangling from his hand was the tags that he had refused to let go of. He somehow managed to clip it back around Dell's neck despite it being damaged. It was after the tags had been returned that Ryan’s thumb moved to brush Dell's cheek the rest of his fingers resting around to the back of his neck, nearly forcing Dell to look up at the soldier before him. He could see Ryan lean down, enough that their noses touched. Panic arose in Dell's chest as he felt their noses brush. His face and ears started to feel warm, though he really hoped it wasn't too painfully obvious.

Even though Ryan's breath smelt bad from several days of unhygienic sleep, he could still smell the gunpowder and smoke on him. Dell was getting nervous, his breath coming heavily with his own terrible breath which resulted in him closing his mouth and breathing through his nose. His mind was brought back to the situation at hand when he heard Ryan speak. “I almost lost you because of incompetence, soldier.” He said catching Dell of guard and taking his mind off how close they were and what position.

“ _Incompetence_?” Dell asked with a soft growl in his voice “You are anything but incompetent. I look at you and I see bravery, loyalty, honesty. Do you think I would admire you if I thought you were incompetent?” He asked before feeling himself tugged forward, completely getting rid of the gap between them as their lips made contact. Ryan was a rough kisser, though at the same time gentle and passionate. When they separated, Ryan going off to the cupboard to gather clothes, he left Dell there feeling dizzy with a racing heart as he tried to figure out what just happened.

Once he regained his footing he spun to look to where Ryan was, though was greeted with the back of a hospital gown. He quickly averted his eyes—mostly, how could he not sneak just a peak… or two. After a moment, Ryan found his clothes, wincing as he reached to get them, a signal for Dell to come in and help. Dell put a hand on the other’s shoulder before grabbing the clothes for him, using the hand on the side furthest from the wound. He was the less wounded of the two hospitalized idiots.

Dell helped the other get dressed, mostly just his shirt seeing as Ryan found it difficult to raise his right arm up past his waist, the same side the other’s wound was on. “For the love of- stop distracting me or you are gonna end up a button off.” Dell said as he felt hands slip around his waist, one hand in specific slipping lower. He finished and gave Ryan a pat on the chest with a smile “That took longer than expected.” He muttered before leaning in closer to Ryan.  
“Now about that kiss…” he said before pulling the confused man in by the collar for a short kiss before pulling away slightly, lips still brushing against one another’s “You aren’t gettin' away that easily.” He told him simply.


	3. The Safe Nest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sniper X Scout (request by IttyBittyBirdy on Quotev

(Sniper- Rick  
Scout Jeremy)

Rick stared down his scope, the enemy had failed to show for a good ten minutes now. His team had decided it was best to stay back and wait till they come back to attack. Silence filled the world where explosions had once drowned out screams of pain. He lifted his head a bit, his eye no longer level with the scope as he shifted to take a drink of coffee. It only took a few more minutes until the attack continued again, his team being bombarded as he tried to take out the other team's medic, whom continued to elude his efforts.

Irritation got a hold of him after the third missed shot, it got worse when their sniper spotted him. His hat flew off his head as he ducked, gun nearly falling out of his hands as he hid just beneath the broken window. He gave a frustrated huff as he pressed his back against the rotting wooden wall, his hat had a nice ripe where a bullet had nearly hit him. The other sniper could have gotten a nice headshot but he was a mere inch off.

Just as he was about to stand and change position he heard small footsteps approaching, loud but small. It had to be a scout. He picked up his Khukuri and readied himself to attack whoever entered the room. Upon seeing a figure enter he launched at them, intending to kill until he realised it was someone on his team. "Fuck, man! Get the hell off!" Rick was pushed off of the youngest Merc of the team, shaking his head as he put his Khukuri back where it had been placed.

"Aren't you supposed to be outside on the battlefield?" Rick asked, making sure to keep away from the window's line of sight. Jeremy brushed himself off, standing up on the other side of the window.  
"Aren't you supposed to be snipin'?" the younger male asked in a snooty tone, clearly irritated that his own teammate attacked him. "Though, it doesn't look like you been snipin' today." He took a step forward.  
"Scout-" Rick said as Jeremy got closer to the danger zone of the window.  
"Ya know, for being a great shot I haven't seen that much brain in the dirt." Jeremy took another step closer to the window "Whatcha been up to, snipes?" he asked as Rick stared at him with a somewhat angry and scared combo look on his face.  
"Scout-" he was cut again off by the boy about to say something else, though he refused to listen as he launched himself to tackle him back to the ground and away from the window. Luckily in time as a bullet whizzed through a crack in the wood and straight into a wall. "Watch where you're going, I don't need another corpse in my nest." Rick huffed as he got up off of Jeremy who remained silent, far longer than Scout usually was.

Rick ignored it at first, ducking beneath the window to get his gun and see if he could get the other sniper without getting his head blown off in the process. He army crawled under the window, sliding the barrel through a slot between two pieces of wood and took aim. He had the other sniper pinned under his scope before he fired, the other sniper firing at the same moment. Both missed. He growled, laying on the ground a moment before his eyes lay upon Scout once again. The younger male wasn't paying attention, his eyes were toward the doorway.

He couldn't place it but the other seemed to have a troubled look on his face, why? How should he know? Scout always seemed to be fine so seeing him so quiet was strange. Sniper scooted himself from under the window "Scout?" he asked, getting the boys attention. Instantaneously Scout's face changed emotion, his worried look dissolving into a cocky glance.

For the longest moment, the sniper sat there almost impressed with how well he could conceal his emotions at such a young age. "Were you gonna ask somethin' or just stare at me?" He gave a laugh "I am so good lookin' that I am distracting people from their job." Rick's face fell to an unamused frown at what was being said.

"Take it easy, Scout." He said to settle the male down. It was this moment he decided to debate on asking him anything about what he was feeling, it would risk him getting teased further, but what he saw on Jeremy's face wasn't worry, it was more than that. It was fear. Today had not typically been an easy day, within the hour he had witnessed Scout get his ass kicked back to spawn without anyone to really care since everyone had their own problems to deal with. For the older mercs it was manageable but for Scout?  
He was the youngest and the younger you are the harder things tend to impact you, something Rick failed to realise. In the end he decided to ask, if anything he would get teased for being soft. He didn't typically like that thought but he could easily endure the torture method called Scout. "Are you…" he paused to find the right words "doin' alright?" it could have been phrased better but it was the best he could come up with at the moment.

In return for his concern he got an eyebrow raise and a confused chuckle "Am I alright?" he asked, "Let me see." He pretended to think a moment, tapping his chin before nodding "We are losin', you can't fuckin' snipe, who knows where Medic, I keep getting' shot, and every time I exit respawn I get fuckin' chased. Yeah, Snipes, I'm doing fan-fuckin'-tastic." The intensity in his voice kept rising as he clearly showed anger toward Rick but not at Rick, not entirely.  
Rick sighed, he couldn't blame him for being angry. "Hey-" before he could say anything else Scout laughed at him.  
"I know 'don't be weak', but hey, here's an idea. Why don't you go out there and get beaten down constantly!" he yelled in an agitated tone.  
"Jeremy!" he yelled to get the younger's attention, upon hearing his actual name Jeremy paused. "I wasn't going to say that." Rick told him calmly, letting the other calm himself for a few moments before he continued. "You know, it's okay to feel scared." He muttered, the noises of death and explosives outside slowly stopped before another wave came.

"Scared? Me? Scared?" Jeremy laughed "I ain't scared!" he told Rick "I am anything but a coward." He said angrily only to stop his speech right there.  
"Didn't call you a coward, you are the only one throwing insults, mate." Rick told him, deciding not to go back to his job for this round seeing as it was too late for them to make a comeback. Instead he decided to crawl over and grab his hat before sitting himself against the crates cluttering the corner, placing it on his head. He reached over his head and grabbed his coffee mug to take a drink of the cold liquid during the silence between the two. Okay, by now Scout's silence was starting to make Sniper nervous.

Sniper let out a hum, what should he say? What would Engineer say? He thought a moment before clearing his throat "If you… need a hug…" he muttered, instantly getting a look before he could finish. "Hey," he shrugged "Everyone needs a hug." Except for him, he only really needed time to himself. Scout scoffed, a disgusted look on his face.  
"A hug from you? I rather hug a damn wall." He muttered, Rick unenthusiastically acting as though it hurt his feelings, including a nice monotone voice.  
"Ow, that hurts." He said, "Didn't your mother ever teach you to be nice to your elders?" he asked.  
"So you want me to treat you like an old man?" Scout laughed, okay, Rick walked into it.  
"Alright, fine, stay over there by yourself. Doesn't bother me." Rick shrugged.

The younger seemed to think for a moment before growling as he started to crawl his way toward Rick. "If you say even one word about this…" he trailed off as he scooted towards Sniper, who wore a smirk on his face. When in doubt think 'What would Engineer do?'.  
"I won't say anything if you won't." he told him as Scout scooted next to him, probably intending to give him an awkward side hug.  
With a shake of his head, he easily wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders and pulled him nearly entirely onto his lap. "Hey! What are you doing?!" Jeremy asked.

"You wanted a hug, it's not going to be half assed." He told him simply. The other was tense for a good period of time before he relaxed into it. Rick held Scout with one arm, the other still having his coffee mug in it.  
It was only after a while of sitting there that Rick realised that Jeremy was asleep. He looked down at him, sighing as he set his mug down. He used his newly freed hand to take the other's hat off, setting it to the side, before lowering his down a bit to cover his eyes as he got himself comfortable against the boxes. He closed his eyes, intending to just rest a bit as most adults may say. Though of course he ended up falling asleep as well.


	4. Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by DignaFactisRecipimvs on Quotev
> 
> Hello everyone, as you may have noticed, I changed my username to Taliolic because it is shorter and easier than the previous username. Recently I did also make a Ko-fi page ( /taliolic) if you would like to donate, I do offer writing commissions which you can inquire about in a pm! As usual thank you for the support and I hope you enjoy!  
> Soldier- Ryan  
> Medic- Josef  
> warning of death-ish stuff

Solly walked aimlessly, unable to find the exit in this maze of hallways. He probably passed his bedroom door nearly five times in search of the exit that didn't seem to exist. Soon enough his own door didn't seem to exist. Actually more than that seemed to no longer exist. There were doors to rooms like the kitchen and common room, but more than that six bedroom doors were missing. Heavy, His, Scout, Pyro, engie, and Demo. This left the hall almost unfamiliar, not to mention creepy empty. The only doors that existed in the hall was Spy and Medic, Sniper too but he doesn't use his room. Medic...last thing he remembered was the man being angry with him, despite knowing this the situation called for him to knock upon the familiar door. His feet dragged toward the door, landing him right in front of it by the time he stopped.

What he should expect to see inside is an irritated or even angry German inside. Perhaps he should rethink his battle strategy, just a few hours ago a lot of things had been said, maybe Josef just didn't want him around anymore. He looked back toward the hall again, not a noise, not a creek in the floorboards, nothing. He looked back to the door, deciding that he would just open it, something was going on and he just wanted to know if he was there, or inform him of what was going on. The door creaked open, revealing a familiar room, the bed was made every detail was exact. In the corner Josef sat at his desk overlooking papers at his desk, as he usually does around this time in the day…. what time was it?

For a moment it seemed he went unnoticed to which he took a few steps, rather loud steps, into the room "What are you doing?" the Medic asked, putting down his pen and raising his head, slowly Josef turned in his chair to look at Solly. He remained in straight posture, eyes looking at the Medic unsure "Doors are disappearing! Something is going on and I bet the Reds have something to do with this!" he said in his usual loud voice painted with fake confidence since all of this was beyond what he had dealt with.

With this wildly insane statement the Medic stood up with a raised eyebrow, obviously not believing him. "Is that so?" he asked Solly turning on his heel to gesture out the door to show him only to see the once barren hall was… not barren anymore. The doors had returned and Snipes was walking down the hall was Engie toward the kitchen.

Solly stood there in disbelief, he… he knew what he had seen. "The…" he muttered looking back to Josef before back out the door, when he looked back to the other he could see the disapproval in his eyes. Medic hummed, closing the door "Solly, there is nothing wrong with the hall." he stated, waiting for an answer as to what Ryan was thinking with such a wild accusation.

Solly growled loudly "It didn't look like that a second ago!" he yelled opening the door again, said door slamming into the wall as he did so. Now this was what it looked like-... except… without the blood on the walls… and Josef's corpse lying just outside the door.

The sight rendered him speechless as he spun around to see the Red Spy de-cloaking behind him. His face contorted into rage as he launched into an attack, an attack that the spy somehow avoided. Before Solly even knew where they went, the spy was behind him, a knife pressed to his back "You can't defeat me, Ryan." he said cheekily, making sure that the man knew there was a knife to his back. "Did you know, not that you would know, some people believe that if you die in a dream, you die in reality." the knife pressed harder against Solly's clothing "Why don't we test the theory?" Spy hissed and… just like that, Solly jolted awake, heaving breaths, cold sweating, and shaking with anger.

He couldn't even comprehend what just happened, half of the dream was already blurred to the point he could barely remember it. He got out of the bed, walking to the door and opening it to see a perfectly normal hallway. The dream, the dream was fading and he barely even knew why he was standing there staring out. All he could really remember was Josef's body lying in the hall and a Spy had… almost killed him? Getting that image of Josef out of his mind was difficult as he took deep breaths. See, empty hall, no bodies or blood, everything is fine. From behind him he could hear the shifting of blankets, his body turning around to see Josef sitting up confused. "What are you… doing standing in the door in your underwear?" he asked groggily, eyebrow raised in questioning.

Right, a few hours after their fight Josef had forgiven him and didn't actually force him to sleep in his own room. He sighed at the silence, realising something was bothering the man, and gestured for him to come back to bed to which Solly didn't reject. The door drifted shut, Ryan walking back to the bed in silence since he really didn't have an excuse as to why he was standing there besides his nightmare. What could he say? Yeah, I had to check that your corpse wasn't outside the door? Suppose the best thing to say is just the plain truth. "Nightmare…" he stated, if he was asked he could tell the truth that he couldn't remember much of what he dreamt.

Josef welcomed him back into the bed with open arms, sure before he had been sleeping with his back to Ryan but he could put aside everything to comfort him after seeing it bothered him enough to stand in the door. "At least it was just a dream." Josef muttered, resting his chin on Solly's head. Yeah. At least it was just a dream.

 


End file.
